Central graduation staying off-site

For the first time in its 87-year history, Central High School held its graduation ceremony outside of Valley Stream last month when 340 students walked across the stage and received their diplomas at the Tilles Center at LIU Post.

The ceremony was deemed a success and at its meeting on July 9, the Board of Education voted unanimously to have Superintendent Dr. Bill Heidenreich look into other venues, specifically the Tilles Center and Hofstra University, to house Central’s ceremony once again next year.

Central Principal Dr. Joseph Pompilio has been a major proponent of the venue change and said he was very happy with this year’s graduation. “It elevated the entire ceremony given the environment of Tilles,” he said. “I was very impressed with their staff. They had numerous people there to help us with seating, security and they stayed with us throughout the duration of the ceremony and anything we asked for we received.”

Heidenreich said that hosting the graduation at Central or at another location costs the same. Expenses, such as renting seats and audio-visual equipment, custodial overtime and security at a high school, run about as much as the use of another venue. Last year, the district spent $9,536 to rent the Tilles Center.

The decision to move the ceremony off-site came in December 2012 when the board voted to approve a contract with LIU Post. The reason for the move, school administrators said, was due in large part to the risk of inclement weather and the alternative option for Central students.

In past years, Central, like the district’s other two high schools, would hold its ceremony outdoors each June, which could accommodate each of the seniors’ family and friends. But when the forecast was bad on graduation day, the ceremony moved indoors to the gymnasium of Memorial Junior High School.

For North and South high schools, which have smaller graduating classes, the ceremonies are held inside the schools’ respective all-purpose rooms. Rain moved graduation indoors several times in recent years, including 2011 and 2012.